- Ottawa Jewish Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Interview with Anna Bilsky
Interview with Anna Bilsky
Description only — contact the archive8
- Held by
- Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
- Dates
- March 24, 2008 (indexed as 2008)
- Level
- item
- Scope & content
- Subject: Anna Bilsky Interview location: Ottawa, On Length of Time: 1:18:55 Audio begins mid conversation- spelling of Mirsky. Discussion about politics within the Jewish community, specifically around low, middle, and upper class organizations, and the differences between groups. Anna was in councilettes, a junior version of the national council of Jewish women, that had a semi-formal every year. Class divisions were an accepted thing, and it was understood. You all went to school and hadar together, it only made a difference in Vaad leadership and high positions. Most power came from the orthodox side Anna went to king st shul. She recalls going with her family. She remembers when it first opened there were hundreds of people. There were other synagogues still in the city, including Beth Shalom and Agudath in the west end. The Jewish community was still small. She recalls when her mother was young, the community was mostly in Lowertown, a few people in Sandy hill, and small but richer families in centretown and the Glebe. As people made more money, they moved from Lowertown to Sandy Hill, and then out to the west end. Anna lived in Sandy Hill from 1950-1958, and moved to Alta Vista in 1958. There were a lot of Jewish families on her block. Went to Osgoode public school, and York Public school. Her mother came to Canada in 1929 and went to York St. Shul When Beth Shalom was formed, children’s programs were started to keep kids quiet during service Beth Shalom was all one level and progressive. There were 2 sections for men and 2 sections for women. In Beth Shalom the barrier between men and women was very little, nothing like traditional Orthodox barriers. Beth Shalom and Agudath have both a large sanctuary and a smaller chapel. Mackziki the women are up higher, and the men are down below, for an obvious separation. Freimans was the most popular store. Duty J Shoes was also popular for shoes. Wolfe Shoes and another one near the mall were also popular, only if they were unavailable at Friemans. Sal Maxx was also popular, and stores on bank streets. Recalls a childhood story of misbehaving at Rideau St. Shul The community was small. According to Anna, a lot of Jewish people in her mother’s generation did not trust non-Jews. So Jews came to Canada where they had more freedom. Her grandfather came in 1927, but couldn't go into banking like he did in Europe, so the community found him a different job. Jews were good at business because they weren’t allowed to do anything else Education was also valued in the Jewish community. Jews in the community dealt with their own because they did not trust outsiders Anna recalls how in elementary school 30% of her class was Jewish, whereas in high school she was one of the only Jews Went to camp B’nai Brith, as did most kids in the Jewish community. Recalls fun stories about youth friendships and relationships. Camp ran all summer, and kids had a lot of opportunities to play and meet other Jewish kids. Anne recalls learning how to swim at camp. First year Anna went to camp she was 8. When she was 10, she only went for half a season Anna recalls how she sent letters home from camp, and this was an organized activity that happened Anna’s older sister also went to camp, and she used to check in on Anna. There was a clear hierarchy at camp; older siblings were in charge of their younger siblings, and younger kids looked forward to getting older so they could look down on the younger kids. There were friday dance socials, and the older kids got to stay later than the young kids. Did not know about Ottawa Modern Jewish School growing up. The Lauterman’s were one of the founding families in OMJS. Anna only learned about OMJS when she had kids After the Second World War, Anna says there was a lot of sympathy for the Jews, and she recalls fundraising for Israel as a kid. She does not remember discrimination. Her parents were aware of discrimination though. She had no family in Europe; her mother’s family had all come to North America. Her parents were more aware of discrimination because they had been subjected to it. Her uncle applied to McGill for medicine, but because they had met their quota of Jews he was rejected and went to California c. 1934 Anna and her father worked at Freimans together. He was the personnel manager. Recalls a story from when she worked in the store with Mme. David. Anna’s father was named Lawrence. Recalls her father’s anti-discriminatory hiring practices at Freimans Anna recalls consecration classes where her and other girls at Beth Shalom were taught how to be good Jewish wives Interviewer states that Abe Lief had said his daughter Mariam Tobah celebrated her Bat Mitzvah; this was the first that such a service had taken place in Ottawa, at Agudath Israel on Friday Feb 25 1949. Agudath Israel moved to Rosemount in 1949. Anna described Agudath Israel and the physical building Anna described the sale of the Adath Jeshurun building Anna described how a Jewish funeral works. Anna’s mother died in 1977, and buried out Adath Jeshurun Her mother loved music and loved to sing, and Hadasa put on a variety show at the original little theater, and she remembers going to see it. Discuss owners of different theaters in Ottawa. Anna recalls her mother used to sing during the war, and go to Petawawa to sing for the troops. Audio ends.
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- Genre / form
- sound recording
- Format
- Audio
- Language
- English
- Harvested
- 2026-10-17T20:12:50Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn